Help on aural stretch

[Richard Moody]

What kind of piano, upright---grand, what brand?  How long has the
client had it, how often is it tuned?  How is he/she determining
more "stretch" is needed?   By playing octaves arpeggio?   Do your
tests prove out esp the 10th and the 17th tests.?   The triple
octave is good.  The octave plus 12th, (that is two octaves plus a
5th) is good also.

If a client demands, a cheap fix for the aural tuner might be to
raise each unison the same by two or 3 beats per second providing
the octaves have been properly tuned to begin with.  However, on
top of the tendency for every thing above C6 to sound flat, there
is the tendency in piano tuning for everything above C6 to go
flat.
If you find yourself raising the pitch in the treble more than 2
beats per second, that tuning will go flat in 20 minutes to 2
days.  So you have to go back through.  The idea is to tune as
fast as possible to get it "up to pitch"  then wait for things to
settle and go back and fine tune.

To get "extra stretch" in  the upper octaves as a professional
service, I believe it should be done as a separate touch up tuning
or charged accordingly as part of a full tuning.  If that is
indeed what the client wants.  If though the client is expecting
to hear a sheis pot sound like a Steinway after you tune it, you
simply need to play a little better than they, or have good bed
side manners.  Which is the reason for asking what kind of piano
and how often is it serviced.     -----rm

---- Original Message -----
From: David and Julie Streit <streit@teleport.com>
To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 9:54 AM
Subject: Help on aural stretch


A client has asked me to put more stretch in the high treble.
Simply put, how do I do this as an aural tuner?  I know it can be
subjective, but I also need a way to make it even.

Dave Streit, RPT

AAA Piano Service

Portland, OR